Showing results by narrator "Kirby Heyborne" in All Categories

Young Mason Stark and 17 fellow cadets from the Academy for Earth Space Command (ESC) boarded the SS Egypt for a routine voyage to log their required space hours when they are attacked by the Tremist, an alien race at war with humanity. With the captain and crew dead, injured, or taken prisoner, Mason and the cadets are all that’s left to warn the ESC. Soon they find out the reason the Tremist chose to attack: the Egypt is carrying a weapon that could change the war forever. Mason will have to lead the cadets in a daring assault to take back the ship, rescue the survivors, and recover the weapon - before there isn’t a war left to fight.

Stone the builder who erects a house that falls on its occupants. Sever the hands of the criminal who pilfers livestock or grain or another's garment. Whip the child who defies an elder. For such is the law and the law must be obeyed. For generations, these ironclad rules had governed the people. Nobody ques-tioned whether it was right to humiliate a child or execute a murderer. An eye for an eye was the way of the world. But was there another way?

Amber Bryant and Tyler Hicks have been best friends since they were teenagers - trusting and depending on each other through some of the darkest periods of their young lives. And while Amber has always felt that their relationship is strictly platonic, Tyler has long harbored the secret desire that they might one day become more than friends. Returning home for the summer after her college graduation, Amber begins spending more time with Tyler than she has in years. Despite the fact that Amber is engaged to her college sweetheart, a flirtation begins to grow between them.

When Aren leaves his village of Rulid for the fabled capital city of Anaheim, he believes he will find the family he never knew. But once a riddle-wreathed storyteller takes up residence in his head, Aren soon realizes that he's stumbled into a legacy older than the kings of yore.

As Bozek and Ranamayve go their separate ways, they each must hold onto the glimmer of hope that their Devotion will hold true. As they journey to join his ogre tribe, Bozek and his elf friend Garik encounter hardships, unlike anything they have endured before. While Ranamayve attempts to convince the complacent elves to join forces with other races against Emperor Charr’s tyranny, she struggles with her grief and loneliness - hoping Bozek will soon return victorious.

The Evil Emperor Charr is capturing magical creatures, forcing them to perform in a circus to entertain humans. Ranamayve, a beauty even amongst elves, is taken from the only land she's ever known to a world filled with humiliation and savagery. As she strives to conceal her identity, Ranamayve must make alliances with Races that she would have preferred never to meet. She is forced to take a closer look into her prejudices when Bozek, a half-ogre, befriends her. His beastly form frightens her, yet she's intrigued by his soft heart.

There's a cultural evolution taking place inside of Mormonism. The evolution of church culture has been something that has needed to happen for a long time. Culture, traditions, oral laws, and the status quo can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing.

Diana Cooke was "born with the century" and came of age just after World War I. The daughter of Virginia gentry, she knew early that her parents had only one asset, besides her famous beauty: their stately house, Saratoga, the largest in the commonwealth, which has hosted the crème of society and Hollywood royalty. Though they are land-rich, the Cookes do not have the means to sustain the estate. Without a wealthy husband, Diana will lose the mansion that has been the heart and soul of her family for five generations.

It seemed like a normal school day until a horrible storm forced the very cautious school administration to make everyone hole up in a safe place. Six students find themselves stuck in a tiny, questionably smelly space - a school bathroom - with a stuffed cat for entertainment. Hijinks ensue, and the unexpected happens. They enter as strangers...and leave as friends.

Every year the futuristic school, Cragbridge Hall, holds its most popular tournament, the Hunt: a series of challenges that range throughout the school and require the use of its amazing inventions like its holographic time machine! But this year is different. Rather than a monetary or academic reward, this year's winner will be the recipient of a carefully-guarded school secret: a secret that could prove both powerful and dangerous.

When Cora Holman’s mother dies, she assumes the inevitable: that her mother overdosed on the painkillers she’d been taking for years. So she’s shocked to learn that her mother and a neighbor both died of a brain aneurysm the same night. When Cora and other neighborhood teens become ill with a mysterious flu, and government-type strangers arrive in her small town, they all fear the unthinkable - a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, a world away in Pakistan, a 16-year-old computer genius named Shahzad is working as a virtual spy....

One thing in life is certain: Change is constant. Thanks to the rapid pace of technological innovation in the digital age - and further accelerated by the global COVID-19 pandemic - massive structural change is happening on a greater scale than ever before. Faced with unprecedented complexity and uncertainty, most business leaders struggle to see the way forward. Company organization, systems, and management are still largely based on what was most effective in the Industrial Age. Disruption Proof offers a new approach that addresses our current reality.

Not so long ago, we embraced social media as a life-changing opportunity to connect with friends and family all across the globe. Today, the pendulum of public opinion is swinging in the opposite direction as Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, and similar sites are being accused of corrupting our democracy, spreading disinformation, and fanning the flames of hatred. Here, with insightful analysis and in-depth research, Robby Soave explores some of the biggest issues animating both the right and the left: bias, censorship, disinformation, privacy, screen addiction, crime, and more.

Louie doesn't have the best luck when it comes to nurturing small animals - not even lightning bugs, worms or goldfish. So when his father brings home a sickly newborn little donkey, he's determined to save him. Taking care of him helps Louie feel closer to his brother Gus, who has just left home. Everyone worries that Winslow won't survive, especially Louie's quirky new friend, Nora. But as his bond with Winslow grows, surprising events prove that this fragile donkey - and Louie - are stronger than anyone could have imagined.

Jason has just learned that his Afghan mother has been living illegally in the United States since his father was killed in Afghanistan. Although Jason was born in the US, it's hard to feel American now when he's terrified that his mother will be discovered - and that they will be separated. When he sees his mother being escorted from her workplace by two officers, Jason feels completely alone. He boards a train with the hope of finding his aunt in New York City.

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer - three of Kristina Snow's five children - live in different homes, with different guardians and different last names. They share only a predisposition for addiction and a host of troubled feelings toward the mother who barely knows them, a mother who has been riding with the monster, crank, for 20 years.

In this rousing coming-of-age story set on the American frontier, one ornery twelve-year-old has a lot to learn if he’s to survive his new life as a mountain man. Having run away after hitting Pa in a bout of rage, Jesse decides to fend for himself. Too much uncontrollable anger and inexplicable emotion since Ma went away have taken their toll. All he wants now is to be left alone. At first, every day on the mountain is a struggle.

On a chilly November afternoon, six-year-old Luke Nightingale’s life changes forever. On the playground across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he encounters Daniel. Soon, the boys are hiding from dinosaurs and shooting sniper rifles. Within hours, Luke and his mother, Claire, are welcoming Daniel into their Upper East Side apartment - and their lives. Daniel and Luke are soon inseparable. With his parents divorcing, Luke takes comfort in having a near-constant playmate. But there’s something strange about Daniel, who is more than happy to bind himself to the Nightingales.

The smell of smoke. A layer of stinky fog dims the sky. Except along the horizon, which is suddenly flickering orange above the treetops. Wildfire, moving fast. Heading in our direction. Birds, deer, squirrels, and raccoons explode from the surrounding forest, racing to stay ahead of the flames. The message couldn’t be clearer. Run. If you want to live, run.

Junk. That's what the kids at school call Bobby Lang, mostly because his rundown house looks like a junkyard, but also because they want to put him down. Trying desperately to live under the radar at school—and at the home he shares with his angry, neglectful father—Bobby develops a sort of proud loneliness. The only buffer between him and the uncaring world is his love of the long, wooded trail between school and home. Life grinds along quietly and hopelessly for Bobby until he meets Rachel, an artist who sees him in a way no one ever has.